Stonewall's election manifesto is an attack on humanity

Stonewall is not providing candidates for office but is calling on candidates and parties to "publicly support [its] priorities for LGBT equality."

Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens have all mentioned 'LGBT equality' in election pledges.

Let's look at just three policies in Stonewall's manifesto and see what effect they might have if made into law.

Recognition

"Reform the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that it protects all trans people by changing the protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment' to 'gender identity' and removing all outdated terminology including 'transsexual' and 'gender reassignment'."

This would change the objective and medically verifiable characteristic of 'gender reassignment' into the pure self-declaration of 'gender identity'. People need not undergo or propose to undergo surgery to be 'protected' under the Equality Act but simply say they identify as the opposite sex or indeed something entirely different. Transgender Trend has done a detailed analysis of what society might look like if 'gender identity' were a protected characteristic. It is tempting to think that this is a private matter and will not affect the average citizen but the pervasive nature of gender ideology begs to differ. Most dangerously this change would reinforce the idea that it is possible to change your sex and silence anyone who affirms the basic biological fact that we were created male and female.

Education

"Ensure that new guidance for relationships and sex education is LGBT inclusive and supported by high quality resources and training for teachers."

'Relationships and Sex Education' will be compulsory in all secondary schools from September 2019 with Relationships Education compulsory in primary schools. The curriculum of this new subject is still largely up for grabs but there is a big push from LGBT pressure groups to make the teaching 'inclusive'. What this means is that children must be taught that all relationships are equal. Cohabitation is no different from marriage, same-sex 'parenting' is no different from growing up with a married mother and father, and homosexuality is no different from heterosexuality. There is much to be said here and Gill Robins has provided some excellent reasons to privilege marriage in the curriculum. But it is worth noting how all of this will further the normalisation of sex between unmarried teenagers. A recent report from the Family Education Trust shows the effect this is having on child sexual exploitation. Because underage sex is seen as normal with 'consent' as the only moral boundary, children are left open to abuse. Without a moral framework of right and wrong, no one can challenge exploitation (with or without 'consent') when they see it. Even worse, they don't see it.

Healthcare

"Ensure NHS England completes the trial programme to provide PrEP as quickly as possible, and fully roll out the treatment to high risk groups to help reduce HIV infection."

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a course of pills which tries to reduce the chance of people at risk of HIV from catching the disease. The CDC says that PrEP is over 90% effective when taken every day but an authoritative Cochrane Review has shown that the most at risk group (men who have sex with men) are unlikely to follow the course properly, greatly reducing its efficacy. The NHS has already pledged to spend £10 million doing clinical trials, meaning treatments like adult stem cell treatment for leukaemia patients were not considered. 1 in 20 men who have sex with men have HIV. The ratio is 1 in 8 in London. Among heterosexuals only 1 in 500 has the virus. As Dr Peter Saunders has said, "PrEP is not technically a prevention strategy at all. It is rather a harm-reduction measure aimed at lessening the health impacts of high-risk and often-addictive sexual behaviours."

PrEP is ineffective, expensive, and encourages dangerous sexual behaviour. The safest sex is had between husband and wife in an exclusive and lifelong marriage relationship. Yet so far, three political parties have pledged to fast-track PrEP on the NHS.

Heading for dystopia?

Stonewall says at the top of its manifesto: "This election is a chance for us to decide what sort of society we want to live in".

The policy goals outlined here make it clear what sort of a society Stonewall wishes to live in. It is one which tears down the most basic societal structures (the human person, the family, sex within marriage) and replaces them with an alternative 'anything goes' sexual vision. This vision is ultimately an attack on humanity itself.

It will be interesting to see how the Conservatives, SNP, DUP and other parties reveal their view of the family as the party manifestos are released.

For now though, Christians will want to uphold the centrality of marriage and the natural family in any policy making and voting, and support candidates who do the same. If the family falls, then so does society.